Over the last two weeks, three serious accidents were recorded within the Mampong Scarp in the Ashanti Region, resulting in at least one death, with many others still receiving medical care at the Mampong Government Hospital and other nearby health facilities.
The situation has been partly blamed on the road's bushy nature, as corroborated by some drivers who ply it.
Motorists plying the road complained that views were narrowed along the stretch due to overgrown bushes on the road shoulders, obscuring the few remaining road signs.
The famous Mampong Scarp stretches more than four kilometres from Jamasi to Ninting on the main Kumasi-Asante Mampong-Ejura highway under the supervision of the Ghana Highway Authority.
The scarp has gained national fame for its aesthetically pleasing views for motorists and commuters, especially those using the road for the first time.
First-time users
However, most first-time users of the stretch become uneasy upon reaching there mainly for two reasons.
While commuters with a fear of heights become nervous upon reaching there, the road's winding nature requires extra care and courage, particularly for new and inexperienced drivers, to manoeuvre their way between the deep valley and the mountains.
Visibility on the scarp is poor due to fog, while intermittent, minor mudslides during the rainy season also compromise safety on that stretch.
Incidentally, there are a handful of road signs to guide road users, though some have been obscured by overgrown weeds along the road shoulders.
Unfortunately, for the past six months, the Ghana Highway Authority had not cleared the overgrown weeds on that stretch of the road, which had narrowed, compelling the residents to take their destinies into their own hands.
Exercise
In a bid to prevent any further road accidents and loss of lives, the two nearby communities, Ninting and Hwidiem, jointly organised an emergency communal labour within the scarp to clear the bush along the shoulders of the stretch.
The intervention also aimed to broaden drivers’ visibility, day or night, to improve road safety.
The exercise was supported by the Mampong Municipal Assembly and the municipal office of the Department of Urban Roads.
A cleared section of the road
Led by the Assembly Member for the Ninting/Hwidiem Electoral Area, Nicholas Osei-Wusu, the people, including traditional leaders, cleared the entire stretch from the GBC TV Station Junction at Ninting to Jamasi.
Enthusiasm
Mr Osei-Wusu described the people's enthusiasm for the call as a patriotic gesture that must be sustained.
“Your support from day one of my tenure has been overwhelming.
Your response to the national sanitation day and this exercise is even mind-boggling.
This is what is required of every citizen to show patriotism and selflessness in support of nation building,” he said.
He added that the work done today was a clear indication of what communalism can achieve in social progress and therefore pleaded with the people to sustain communal spirit for the benefit of the area.
MCE speaks
Addressing the people after the exercise, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Mampong, Yakubu Issifu, sharing a personal account of one of the recent road accidents in the scarp, commended the people of Ninting and Hwidiem for their intervention and urged them to sustain their patriotism to save lives.
Mr Issifu said, “Your level of patriotism has surprised me. Other communities would not have responded to a call for communal labour with the thinking that the work is for the municipal assembly.
“Over the weekend, I had to rush here to attend to a serious road accident. I commend you highly and encourage you to keep it up.
I will soon come to your community on a Thank
You Tour for you to make requests for your development priorities for the assembly’s consideration.”
Further, the MCE accepted an appeal from the assembly member to provide bulbs to help light up part of Ninting, which had been in darkness for some months.
Drivers account
An Urvan bus driver, Charles Oduro, said plying the road becomes difficult when it becomes bushy, adding, “Just three days ago, there was an accident here which claimed three lives.
We urge the institution with the mandate to do the needful when it becomes bushy”.
Another driver, Osei Kwaku, said, “The winding nature of the road limits us as to how far we can see ahead.
It requires extra care and experience to ply the stretch safely.
It is more dangerous, especially for first-time users, when the stretch is overgrown with weeds as well”.
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